Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation - Motor Totemist Guild from the USA

Motor Totemist Guild was formed in 1980 by composer James Grigsby and poet/singer Christine Clements. Throughout the 1970’s Grigsby had been involved with the study and performance of electronic music, Renaissance polyphony, progressive rock, post-Webern serialism, Balinese gamelan and punk-jazz. Clements was active in the San Francisco poetry scene. In 1984, after a move to Los Angeles, they released their first project, Infra Dig, the inaugural LP release on Grigsby’s private label, Rotary Totem Records. Augmented by a large group of musical guests, the album left critic Richard Gehr “entranced”. Gerald Lokstadt commented on their eclectic approach, “their style can swing from blues/jazz to Elliot Carter, sometimes within the same composition!” He also noted that “their name is a spoof on every artist being part of a school or movement”, though Grigsby maintains that it is a reference to techniques pioneered by the Italian Futurist composer, Luigi Futi.

Throughout the 1980’s, MTG released several albums, and frequently performed live in the Los Angeles area with a pool of musicians associated with the California Outside Music Association (COMA) and Independent Composers Association (ICA). After Clements’ departure in 1985, MTG continued as an instrumental group, combining Grigsby’s Electric Chamber Music with free-improvisation, a direction influenced by the addition of woodwind ace Lynn Johnston and electric cellist Becky Heninger . In press releases at the time, they described their sound as “ the songs of the mockingbird mixed with the delicate ambiance of a diesel exhaust pipe”. In 1987, Emily Hay joined the ensemble, once again bringing vocals to the music, along with her considerable ability in playing the flute. By the end of the 1980’s, MTG had grown to a sextet with percussionists Eric Strauss and David Kerman, and had collaborated with such diverse groups as 5uu’s and the USC Contemporary Music Ensemble as well as taking part in a groundbreaking cultural exchange with musicians from Cambodia and Laos. In 1997, the recordings from this period were re-released on two CDs, Archive One and Archive Two by the No Man’s Land label in Germany.

Into the Nineties...
In 1989, Grigsby and Hay joined together with David Kerman (drums) and Sanjay Kumar (keyboards) from 5uu’s to form a new group, called U Totem. That same year, they were invited to perform along with Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Caspar Brotzmann, Bill Frisell and Michael Nyman at the International Art Rock Festival in Frankfurt, Germany. In 1990, with the addition of Eric Johnson-Tamai (bassoon), they performed at the New Music America Festival in Montreal, Canada on the bill with the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet. The quintet version of U Totem, augmented by several studio guests, recorded two CD albums for Cuneiform Records: U Totem (Rune 24, 1990) and Strange Attractors (Rune 66, 1994). In 1993, they returned to Europe and performed for audiences in Holland, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland.

The City of Mirrors project
It was while Grigsby was staying in Amsterdam between engagements during U Totem’s tour of Europe in 1993, that the seed for the City of Mirrors project was planted. “I had the pleasure of meeting the renown Dutch composer, Louis Andriessen . He told me, "My music is closer to Stan Kenton, than it is to Gustav Mahler.". I felt it was significant that a European composer from the classical tradition would choose to align himself with an American band leader from the "swing era". At that time, I was listening to a lot of Ellington's recordings, but I knew virtually nothing about Kenton. After I came back to the States, I did some musical research. In the late 40's, Kenton had assembled a massive 40-piece ensemble, including a full string section (The Innovations Orchestra). The arrangements, particularly those by Pete Rugolo and Bob Graettinger were astounding stylistic mixes, not classifiable as either jazz or classical music, with the implicit intent of furthering the language of music. The pieces they created, such as Graettinger’s signature piece, "City of Glass" are unique in big band literature. The discovery of this music was the impetus to create a new version of MTG, as represented on the City of Mirrors album.”
To perform Grigsby’s City of Mirrors, he formed a new version of the Motor Totemist Guild, including over a dozen musicians who have worked with the likes of Anthony Braxton, Kiss, Mel Torme, Fibonaccis, Tito Puente, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Genital Giant. The music itself is as diverse as the musicians’ backgrounds. To get the hybrid mix just right, Grigsby recruited stars of the Southern California avant-jazz scene, like Vinny Golia (woodwinds) and Jeff Kaiser (trumpet) and veterans of the indie rock world, like Joe Berardi (drums) and Jerry Wheeler (trombone) to play along with old cohorts from MTG and elsewhere. The group debuted in January 1998 at Los Angeles Harbor College and the City of Mirrors album was released on the Cuneiform label in 1999.

The All America City project
While composing & producing City of Mirrors, Grigsby was also working on another musical project, this one tied to an original screenplay. The screenplay, titled Yu Gakusei (AKA Parachute Kids), is a mystery/drama set around the death of a Japanese hostess working in a night club in Gardena, California. Characters & events from the story are reflected in the music of All America City. This music is a departure in sound from City of Mirrors, which was written for a large ensemble to be performed in concert. All America City on the other hand, was created entirely in the studio, with emphasis on the full range of tone-colors & effects possible using samplers, computers & other studio techniques. A small ensemble of musicians, featuring Bridget Convey (piano), Rod Poole (guitar), and Hannes Giger (contrabass) was utilized in the studio to create a sparse but complex sound space. Many of the sections of the score utilize graphic notation instead of the traditional 5-line staff. The All America City album was released by Rotary Totem in 2000.

- James Grigsby

Reprinted by Permission of the author.